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Louisiana Republicans want specifics on the characteristics of those who signed up for Obamacare

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Sen. David Vitter, R-La., (left) and Rep. Steve Scalise, R-Jefferson, are among the Louisiana Republicans who wrote to Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius Thursday (April 4, 2014) for more enrollment information for the Affordable Care Act.

WASHINGTON -- Louisiana Republicans say they want some questions answered to evaluate the significance of the Obama administration's announcement that over 7 million Americans signed up for health insurance under the Affordable Care Act by the March 31 deadline. Enrollment applications are still being accepted for people who were trying to sign up by the deadline but could not complete the process.

Only a few weeks ago, that 7 million enrollment goal seemed unachievable -- especially after a problematic rollout of the marketplace's healthcare.gov website. But on Tuesday, President Barack Obama proclaimed: "This law is doing what it's supposed to do. It's working. It's helping people from coast to coast, all of which makes the lengths to which critics have gone to scare people or undermine the law, or try to repeal the law without offering any plausible alternative so hard to understand."

Louisiana's congressional Republicans said Thursday that a lot more information is needed before the first year of open enrollment can be assessed.

"There are many unanswered questions concerning the Obamacare exchanges," said Rep. Bill Cassidy, R-Baton Rouge who is basing a good part of his run for the U.S. Senate on his opposition to health law. "Until the President releases more enrollment information, we cannot evaluate the claim that 7.1 million people have signed up for Obamacare. We need more information before the President declares this law a success."

Cassidy joined with the delegation's other Republican members, including Sen. David Vitter, R-La., and Steve Scalise, R-Jefferson, in penning a letter to Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius with a series of questions. Among them:

A "breakdown" of the health status and ages of people enrolled in the federal health insurance exchange in Louisiana.

"How many people in Louisiana have signed up for health insurance coverage on the federal health insurance exchange?"

Referring to reports that "more than 93,000 Louisianans" lost their previous health insurance because they did not meet the minimum standards for coverage established by the Affordable Care Act, the Louisiana Republicans asked "how many previously uninsured individuals enrolled in the federal health insurance exchange in Louisiana?" The president, after complaints that the cancelled policies violated his pledge that if people liked their coverage they could keep it, issued an executive order saying those non-compliant plans did not have to be cancelled.

Also signing the letter to Sebelius were Reps. Charles Boustany, R-Lafayette, John Fleming, R-Minden and Vance McAllister, R-Swartz.

On Tuesday, Sebelius said between 80 to 90 percent of people who had signed up for coverage nationally under the Affordable Care Act had paid at least their initial premiums.

An official with the Department of Health and Human Services said Thursday that the
updated enrollment information will probably be released between the middle and
end of April. The official said the agency needs to coordinate enrollment
information from a variety of sources (paper, online, call centers etc.,) as
well as information from various state marketplaces - a time consuming effort.

In late March, there were reports that 50,000 in Louisiana had signed for health coverage under the law. As of March 1, the University of Pennsylvania said that Louisiana was one of seven states that had not yet enrolled 10 percent of potential enrollees.

Rep. Cedric Richmond, D-New Orleans, said after the president announced the 7.1 million enrollment figure that Republicans and Democrats should be working together to insure the Affordable Care Act's ultimate success.

"The health of the American people is not a political issue, it is a moral issue," Richmond said. "We have a responsibility to ensure every citizen has access to reliable health insurance at a reasonable cost. The repeated attempts to sabotage the law undermine that responsibility and jeopardize the health and financial security of millions of Americans. The American people have made a statement that the Affordable Care Act is working for them. It is time for the GOP to listen and end their repeal-at-all-cost agenda so we can continue to work on moving this law forward."

On Thursday, the House voted 248-179 for legislation to change a rule in the Affordable Care Act that requires businesses with 50 or more employees working 30 hours or more per week to provide health coverage to their workers. That mandate has been waived for businesses with 51-100 workers through 2016.

Still, Republicans said it is leading some businesses to cut hours for workers below 30 hours per week - to escape the eventual mandate. Their bill would change the mandate for employees working 40 hours or more per week.

"President Obama's health care law
includes perverse incentives that are forcing hard-working taxpayers to have
their work week reduced below 30 hours," Scalise said. "This part of Obamacare has resulted in 25
percent less take home pay for millions of American workers, including many
employees in New Orleans' world-renowned restaurants. We must reverse the devastating
impacts that Obamacare is having on families across America."

Democrats said the Republican proposal would cause people to lose their health coverage. By their count, it will mark the 52nd time the Republican-led House has voted to repeal, reduce or undermine the health care law.

House Majority Whip Steny Hoyer said the GOP bill would make people who work 39-hour weeks part-time, with no requirement that they get health coverage.

"You won't have to have health care insurance and somebody else will pay their bill," Hoyer said. "Maybe Medicaid, depending on how much they make. Maybe all of us will pay that extra $1,000 in our premiums so the uninsured can be funded. Or maybe the other employers, who do, in fact, believe that it is good to offer their employees health insurance even though they only work thirty-nine hours a week. Somebody else will pay the bill."